La Roja Advance and Book a Ticket to the Euros Final
Germany - Both Spain and France ranked in the top-10 in the Men's FIFA World Ranking. Spain has looked like the team to beat the entire tournament, taking down Germany in extra time in the Quarterfinals. Injuries and yellow cards seem to be the only way to slow down the Spanish. Meanwhile, France has not looked like the powerhouse we have come to know them by. They have failed to score a goal in open play in every single one of their matches this tournament, only a Kylian Mbappe penalty and two own goals have sent them through, prior to the Semifinal.
The PSG trio up front which includes Mbappe, Kolo Muani, and Dembele are all very familiar with each other. Despite their elite speed, Spain had the first scoring chance of the game. Right around the fifth minute of the game, Lamine Yamal delivered a beautiful, curling cross into the box and found the head of Fabian Ruiz but his header sailed over the bar. Just mere moments later, the French finally scored their first open-play goal of the tournament. The captain, Kylian Mbappe, got the ball on his right foot and exceptionally crossed the ball into the six-yard box and found the open Kolo Muani. His header was delivered into the bottom right corner of the net and kept Unai Simon at a standstill. Just 10 minutes into the match, Spain was already looking like they were missing Dani Carvajal and Pedri.
Speaking of missing Carvajal, Jesus Navas was getting worked early on. Kylian Mbappe clearly fancied the matchup he wanted and looked like an animal feasting on its prey. Subsequently, Navas received a yellow card in the 14th minute. Despite being down, the Spanish were not playing with any doubt. As ironic as it is, the youngest player on the field and in the tournament scored to level the game. Lamine Yamal scored an absolute worldie of a goal to the point where Mike Maignan could do nothing to stop it. Off the post and in to tie the game at one goal a piece. Yamal is now the youngest player ever to score a goal in Euros history at 16 years and 362 days.
Just four minutes later, Dani Olmo delivered a powerful strike on target and went in off the boot of Jules Kounde. Olmo is now the front-runner for the Golden Boot. In a span of four minutes, the Spanish had retaken the lead and switched all of the momentum. It was an insane first 25 minutes of soccer, to say the least. The Euros have been the best soccer tournament in the world and after this first half, they will continue to be. There were several chances by both France and Spain after Dani Olmo’s go-ahead goal, but the score remained 2-1 in favor of the Spanish. It was a first half full of fire and entertainment. As neutral fans, we were definitely spoiled with goals.
Immediately, to start the second half, Maignan sprinted out of his goal to meet Nico Williams out of the 18-yard box. It was a very audacious attempt to slide tackle Williams that far out of goal, but it paid off. He seemed to be tugging at his hamstring after the play but gave the thumbs out to the sideline and remained in the game. Aurelien Tchouameni had the first real chance of the second half to score. During an ensuing French corner, Tchouameni found the ball in the air and headed it towards the feet of Unai Simon. It was an easy save in the end, but it gave the French some momentum. This led to a few more scoring chances for the French, which was led by the dangerous Kylian Mbappe.
Jesus Navas was subbed out at the 58th minute for Daniel Vivian. One could assume that he was subbed out for fresh legs because of his yellow card and the fact that Mbappe was continuously getting everything he wanted. As play resumed, Tchouameni received a yellow card for tackling Alvaro Morata. France then decided to make a triple substitution where Camavinga, Griezmann, and Barcola all came in for Rabiot, Kante, and the goalscorer, Kolo Muani. In the 75th minute, the French had the best opportunity to score since their opening goal. Theo Hernandez had the ball sitting in front of him, ready to strike it on target but leaned back on it too much. As a result, the ball sailed into the French crowd, behind the Spanish net. With only 15 minutes and stoppage time remaining, the French were running out of time to score.
Lamine Yamal almost bagged a brace with her curling strike that barely went over the crossbar. He was giving Theo Hernandez all he could ask for and more. After the ensuing goal kick, Aymeric Laporte ran into the shoulder of Olivier Giroud and immediately hit the ground. He was down on the pitch for a few minutes, trying to get his bearings together. Resuming play, Mbappe led a French counterattack and had a one-on-one opportunity with the defender and wasted his chance. Once again, the French failed to score in a promising position. That looked to be the moment that the game was going to be tied up but the ball found its way into the spectators, not in the back of the net.
The frustration was beginning to show as Camavinga was shown a yellow card for his tackle on Cucurella. The only thing Lamine Yamal hadn’t done in the game was receive a yellow card, but quickly was given one for taking Theo Hernandez to the ground, to stop the ongoing French counterattack. He was subbed off at the next dead ball, along with Nico Williams, and both received a round of applause as they walked off the pitch. With a free kick given in the 95th minute, that would be all she wrote. Spain remained undefeated in this European Championship and advanced to the Euros Final. They await the winner of England vs. Netherlands.
